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Egypt's EEHC Opens Financial Envelope for Hamrawien Power Plant

Egypt’s mega coal power project plans are moving ahead with the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) opening the envelope for bids to build the 6,600 megawatt (MW) Hamrawien Clean Coal Power Plant last week.

The project will be located at Hamrawein on Egypt’s Red Sea coast and would be developed as Independent Power Project.

The second-lowest bid of US$5.8 billion was submitted by General Electric (GE), while the consortium of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power System (MHPS), Orascom Construction (OC) and El Sewedy (PSP) submitted the third-lowest bid of US$7 billion.

However, on the tariff front, the MHPS consortium bid the lowest Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of 4.5 cents/kWh, followed by the Shanghai Electric consortium with 5.4 cents/kWh and GE with 7.0 cents/kWh.

In comparison, a consortium of ACWA Power and Harbin Electric had bid a LCOE of 4.241 cents/kWh for the 2,400 MW Hassyan Clean Coal Power Project in Dubai, according to a November 2016 statement by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA).

The source said Shanghai Electric consortium’s bid submission incorporates a 27% local currency (Egyptian pounds) component in line with the EEHC requirement to maximize local content.

In terms of technical evaluation results, the Shanghai Electric consortium came first, followed by the MHPS consortium and GE.

The source said Tractebel, the owner’s consultant for the project, will evaluate the LCOEs and announce the final award within two weeks.

In October last year, a report by local English language website Egypt Today, quoting the Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker, said the project would be developed in three phases of 2,000 MW each over a period of five-to-six years. The report said that in June 2017, nine local banks had assured US$1.5 billion in loans for the project.